Former editor of Take a Break magazine John Dale would like to see others follow his example by launching constituency-wide TV channels in the run-up to the May 2015 general election.
Dale originally launched Brentford TV as a forum for his home-made videos about the area.
But anticipating an election fight for the marginal constituency of Brentford and Isleworth, he trained his sights on political candidates in the area and re-branded it as "Britain’s First Constituency TV Channel".
His first political interview was with Conservative MP for Brentford, Mary Macleod. He approached her in a food bank, asking how “a Tory MP who votes for slashing welfare benefits” can visit a place that “feeds the poorest of her constituents?”.
Since then Mr Dale says the video has been viewed more than 5,000 times across several sites.
Dale said: “Mary Macleod has never been shown to her constituents in this manner. She'd never been questioned like this. In the past all people got were a few shiny leaflets and Photoshopped pictures."
Now Dale hopes others will follow suit. He has created a facebook group called UK Constituency TV Network for Election 2015 with the slogan: “Elections don’t have to be boring”.
Dale said: “As the election approaches, I'd like to see dozens of similar constituency TV channels across the UK.
"It's an historic advance in local democracy, and I hope it spreads. Anyone can contact me if they want advice.”
He added: “Social media can re-energise our democratic process. I think constituency TV has the potential to start a small revolution.”
Dale taught himself to edit footage using iMovie and Final Cut Pro after buying a camcorder last year.
His former roles include as a freelance investigative reporter for the Observer and the Daily Mail, and 20 years as editor of women’s weekly magazine, Take A Break.
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